A UK hospital has become the first in the world to adopt gender-neutral language in its maternity department to support trans and non-binary people who give birth.
Brighton and Sussex University Hospital's maternity ward announced on Twitter this week the changes to the clinical and language guidelines, with new terminology to be introduced such as "mothers or birthing parents", "maternal and parental", "breast/chestfeeding", "human milk", "breast/chestmilk" and "milk from the feeding mother or parent".
"We recognise the importance of providing inclusive respectful perinatal care to all pregnant women and people," the statement reads.
A 19-page document issued on the change emphasised that the changes "do not apply when discussing or caring for individuals in a one-on-one capacity where language and documentation should reflect the gender identity of the individual".
"We are on a journey towards gender-inclusive care for everybody during pregnancy, birth and afterwards."
The changes attracted a backlash, including Good Morning Britain host Piers Morgan claiming they will "alienate people".
"It's becoming a really big issue," he said on Wednesday's show.
"Here's my problem with this - this is one trust, but it will all start rolling out now - this language policing.
"If you're a trans-parent, signal to staff, and if you have a certain language you'd like to be used then absolutely fine.
"It shouldn't mean everybody then has to be embraced with this language."
Morgan clearly didn't read the document before addressing it, as it clearly states the gender-neutral language will be used "alongside the language of womanhood".
"If we only use gender-neutral language, we risk marginalising or erasing the experience of some of the women and people who use our services," the hospital said.
"We understand the fear of erasure, however, marginalising other groups because they are rare will not improve care for women."
